


The gift

by Echo_star



Series: 12 days of X-mas oneshots; Underground Edition [7]
Category: The Gifted (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-15 23:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13041666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echo_star/pseuds/Echo_star
Summary: Clarice struggles to get into the Christmas spirit as John has been avoiding her





	The gift

Clarice turned slowly, looking at the mismatched Christmas decorations which added some colour to the normally bare walls. Most of the decorations were threadbare, scavenged from castoffs. The rest were messy, handmade from some of the children that had passed through. Together they transformed the headquarters into their version of a Christmas wonderland.

Normally Clarice would be rejoicing at the magical time of the year. Unfortunately She wasn’t feeling the holiday spirit this year.

She huffed out a sigh, she’s searched this whole damn building for John. As a central part of the underground, he should be easy to find. 

It feels like she has seen everyone except John. Lorna was fleecing some people at poker, Marcos nearby playing with Aurora.   
Some refugees were telling stories, there’s the not-quite chorus of children singing carols, but no John. 

The festivity of the underground, as everyone came together to celebrate, was one of the best times of the year. This year, she barely mustered the enthusiasm to help decorate the tree.

John has been increasingly withdrawn lately. She’s rarely seen him and when she attempts to make plans together, he is a fountain of excuses and apologies for why he can’t be there.

She’s not sure what she’s done wrong, why his feelings seemed to have flipped so suddenly. She’s terrified he’s working his way to end it, end _them_. 

Dejected, Clarice made her way outside, shivering as the cold air bit into her skin. Chuckling humourlessly to herself, if John wanted to find her, he was more than capable. 

She walks until she finds herself at one of their spots, a small clearing where they would go when they wanted some time away from the craziness of the underground. It bears the marks from their presence, where John haphazardly tunnelled his frustrations into throwing trees around. Some scorch marks from Clarice practicing projecting portals. It’s their place, so many memories and moments made here. 

Clarice freezes, can hear footsteps and she knows it’s him. Knows it like she knows the sun will rise tomorrow. 

She looks up, sees him step into the clearing. A sense of vulnerability settles over her, her heart raw and she’s terrified she will break, shatter into many tiny pieces that she can’t recover from. 

“Hey, what are you doing out here?" He asks, a smile on his face. "You must be freezing” he says as he strides towards her, eating up the distance between them. 

Clarice shrugs, unable to hold his gaze she turns her attention to an unfortunate tree that bore the brunt of a portal gone wrong.   
"I just needed some air, the festivities are a little stifling.”

He stops a foot away, close enough she could reach out to touch him but the space between them is evident. 

“Yeah, the Christmas spirit has well and truly enthused the underground.” He smiled unabashed before looking at her enquiringly "You normally love all the Christmas stuff, what's wrong?” 

"Yeah." Clarice replied, her voice really not excited. She can’t hold it in anymore. The uncertainty is eating away at her and she wants to know, needs to know if they are over. 

“Do you want to break up?” She cringes internally, that was more direct than she’d anticipated, but she owns it; watching as shock and confusion cross his face. 

“What? No." He steps back, stunned and hurt.

She wants to go to him, ease the pain her words have caused but he interrupts before she can move.   
"Is that what you want?” 

“No!" It’s instinctive, no thought required, she loves him, her heart aches with it.

He steps forward, his hand tilting her face so her can look into her eyes. “If you don’t want to break up, and I definitely don’t, then what are we even talking about?” 

She can feel her eyes brimming with tears, and she ruthlessly blinks them back. One tear escapes, slowly slipping down her cheek. She moves her hand to brush it angrily away but  his hand captures hers, locking their fingers together. His other hand coming up to gently swipe the tear away, before enfolding her in his arms, her pain like a brand to his heart. 

Clarice hesitates before wrapping her arms around him, a small sob escaping. His arms strong around her, supporting her as she buries her face in his neck and he rests his against her hair.

They stand there, neither know for how long. It could be one minute, or ten but they stand there in the cold air until John shifts, waits for her to pull back. He keeps his arms loose around her and asks the question that's been gnawing at his mind.   
"Why did you ask if I want to break up?”

Clarice looks at him directly, because he has been acting weird lately.   
“You’ve been avoiding me recently. You're never where you say you will be, last night you said you and Marcos were going to find firewood. I went to go chill with Lorna but she was busy." Clarice is stares up into his warm brown eyes, so that she can see his reaction to her next words. "With Marcos.” She adds. 

The question hangs unanswered in the air, the implication clear. He had lied, so what had he been doing? 

John stepped back releasing her, the space between them increasing as he agitatedly ran his hands through his hair.

She sees his lips moving, small quick movements as he mutters. She steps closer trying to make sense of the jumbled words.   
“-suppose to go differently." He mumbled under his breath. "-not the plan.”

He looks up at her then and she sees the indecision vanish. He steps closer and stares deep into her eyes, the world falls away and it's just the two of them.

“Clarice. The first time I saw you, I knew you were going to change my life. The danger faded away until all I saw was you. You quickly became one of the most important people in my life, I love you. Every single day I fall in love with another facet of your personality. I love all of you, your markings that you try to hide, those eyes that see so much, your mind, your personality, the fact that you can't cook, your strength. And no matter what happens, even if our world implodes around us, I will always be here for you."

His left hand gravitates to his pocket before he slowly drops to the ground. On one knee. 

Clarice's eyes widen as she watches him, heart racing in her chest as she realised what he was doing. 

“I will love you for the rest of my life." He states with finality. "Clarice Fong, will you marry me?” He asks opening the small, seemingly innocent box. John watches as her mouth opens and closes a few times. He can hear the erratic beating of her heart, even as she struggles to find her words. A grin starts to slide onto her face and he can't help the smile that graces his lips. 

The world falls away as John sees her lips part and-she laughs. He stands up, unsteady on his feet. John's never proposed before but he's positive that she's not supposed to laugh. Clarice is bent over guffawing, practically laughing her ass off. She's laughing so hard that she has tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. 

John closes the ring case and shoves it back in his pocket agitated. He stares at her, heart beating wildly in his chest, blood pulsing in his ears and flushing his face in embarrassment.  
Anxiety mounting he backs away slowly. He's only moved about three feet when she stops laughing and looks up at him grinning. He feels his heart drop, Clarices rejection hurts worse than any pain he’s been exposed to.

"John-" Clarice begins.

"Don't!" He interjects. "I get it." 

"No, you don't get it." She protests walking toward him. "I've been petrified for weeks that you were trying to muster up the courage to break up with me."

Clarice's hand touches his arm and John can't help the flinch that racks his body, sensing a but coming. He can't bring himself to look at her, so he stares at the ground.

Her hands firmly grip his neck and tug his head level with hers.   
"Hey," she says softly, "I didn't get to answer." 

“Yeah, you did” he murmurs, a hint of reproach in his voice. “Laughing at a proposal is standard for a rejection.”

"That was borne of extreme relief! You have no idea what I was thinking when I realized you were lying to me." She responds touching her forehead to his.

"Can you ask me again?" Clarice whispers, running her hands down his shoulders in an attempt to relieve the tension she has caused.

John sighs as his hand retrieved the box from his pocket.   
"Clarice Fong," he whispers in the space between them, "will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" She looked deep into his eyes and grinned.

 "Yes." 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
